'Kuda renggong' features horses of a different color<\/p>\n
By YR Prahista<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): You can find horses pulling carts, carrying
\npeople and performing other menial tasks, while certain species
\nof horses are bred and trained to race.<\/p>\n
But in Sumedang, about 60 kilometers from Bandung, West Java,
\nyou can find horses of a different color. These horses are used
\nin the kuda renggong, dancing horse, a traditional form of
\nentertainment popular among locals.<\/p>\n
The show is usually the highlight of holidays and other
\ncelebrations, including Independence Day, wedding parties and
\ncircumcision feasts.<\/p>\n
It is called the dancing horse because during the performance
\na horse shows its skill in ngarenggong, a Sundanese word meaning
\n\"dancing\".<\/p>\n
Obviously, a horse dances differently from a human being since
\nit certainly cannot undulate its body like a human dancer. But
\nthe horse can move to the rhythm of the accompanying percussion
\nmusic, a feat few other animals can accomplish.<\/p>\n
During the dance, the horse moves its body and steps like a
\nmarching soldier, while moving its head up and down, and its legs
\nare stamped on the ground in rhythm to the traditional music. In
\nthis way, it appears as if the horse was dancing.<\/p>\n
Some of the horses used in this performance may have other
\nunusual skills as well, such as moving as if they were giving a
\nmartial arts demonstration.<\/p>\n
The horses appear to be challenging their human counterparts
\nwhen they raise their forelegs, looking as if they will strike
\ntheir opponents. Hopping forward on their back legs, the forelegs
\nmove as if responding to a challenge posed by the human
\n\"opponents\".<\/p>\n
The horses taking part in such shows are usually raised by the
\nSumedang people and specially trained for this performance for
\nfour to six months.<\/p>\n
\"Some horses, however, can carry burdens and still be used in
\nthe kuda renggong,\" said Daca, a member of Laksana Palipur, a
\ndancing horse group from Legok.<\/p>\n
According to sources, Aki (Grandpa) Sipan of Cikurubuk
\nvillage, Buahdua subdistrict, began the dancing horse tradition
\nin 1910. \"Aki Sipan had a strong affinity for his parents' horses
\never since he was a child,\" said Sartam, the show's performer.<\/p>\n
Aki Sipan, therefore, knew practically everything there was to
\nknow about horses, such as how a horse moved when walking and
\nrunning or when making other rhythmically movements. So, Sipan
\nsecretly trained his parents' horses to move like they were
\ndancing.<\/p>\n
One day, he showed his dancing horses to a number of villagers
\nin a show that was accompanied by traditional Sundanese music,
\nthe first show that made a name for himself with his kuda
\nrenggong. Him and his horses began to be invited to show their
\nskills at circumcision feasts.<\/p>\n
The shows soon spread to other places in Sumedang, and more
\nand more locals began using their horses not to carry burdens but
\nto dance.<\/p>\n
A dancing horse is decorated with multicolored cloth and a
\nvariety of accessories and usually led by two men in black, who
\nare the trainers, locally called pawang. When the dancing horses
\nperform at a circumcision feast, the boy who is going to be
\ncircumcised sits on the horse.<\/p>\n
To make the atmosphere more festive, traditional percussion
\ninstruments or the gamelan which accompanies the martial-arts
\nperforming horses are played by a number of nayaga, performers
\nwho are usually attired in costumes of strikingly bright colors.<\/p>\n
As a traditional art, kuda renggong has now spread to almost
\nall points in the Sumedang district with some 50 groups with a
\ntotal of about 200 horses.<\/p>\n
Head of the tourism service in Sumedang district, Ade Kiswaya,
\nsaid this traditional art was a regional asset that could be used
\nto boost tourism in the district. To this end, the Sumedang
\ndistrict held the annual 1999\/2000 Kuda Renggong Festival on
\nSept. 11 featuring 36 kuda renggong arts groups from 10
\nsubdistricts, 13 groups of martial-art horses and other
\ntraditional arts.<\/p>\n
In terms of numbers, this year's festival was not as festive
\nas previous ones. \"One of the reasons is that the present
\neconomic crisis may have caused some kuda renggong groups to go
\nunder,\" Sartam said.<\/p>\n
Whether a traditional arts group can survive very much depends
\non members of the community, who serve as its admirers and its
\nsource of livelihood.<\/p>\n
Jajuli, the festival's participant, said a kuda renggong group
\nwas paid between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1,000,000 for a show. \"It
\ndepends on the type of horses and the distance to be covered (to
\nthe performance),\" he said.<\/p>",
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